HEAVY METAL POLLUTION

M.MOHAMMED

KISHORE B.MUTHUKANNAN P.MUTHUKUMARAN B.NAVEEN KUMAR M.NEELABHARATHY S.SABARINATHAN

(10E621) (10E622) (10E623) (10E624) (10E625) (11E910)

The term heavy metal refers to any metallic chemical element that has a relatively high density and is toxic or poisonous at low concentrations. High atomic weight metals (mercury, lead etc.) Sometimes the term trace elements is used to include non-metal and lower atomic weight elements Many of these elements are essential to the body in very low concentrations: Iron essential for hemoglobin Copper - essential for hemocyanin (in invertebrates) Cobalt in vitamin B12 Zinc essential component of many enzymes

But in high concentrations these can be toxic. e.g. one aspirin tablet is a useful medicine but 100 tablets are lethal Some heavy metals have no essential function in the body (e.g. mercury, lead) and any concentrations can be harmful

are natural components of the Earth's crust they cannot be degraded or destroyed to a small extent they enter our bodies via food, drinking water and air as trace elements, some heavy metals (e.g. copper, selenium, zinc) are essential to maintain the metabolism of the human body however, at higher concentrations they can lead to poisoning heavy metal poisoning could result, for instance, from drinking-water contamination (e.g. lead pipes), high ambient air concentrations near emission sources, or intake via the food chain

SOURCES
Mercury Lead chromium, Cadmium

SOURCES
RIVERS Erosion of rocks containing metals Surface runoff sweeps up naturally formed and anthropogenic metal particles Metals often bind with sediments and are deposited on the seabed but these can enter the marine environment again is there is: Dredging Trawling

SOURCES
GROUNDWATER SEEPAGE Dissolved substances are carried via ground water movement contamination in soil may be picked up by the moving waters DELIBERATE DISCHARGE Contaminated waste dumping Industrial discharges Sewage

MERCURY EFFECTS
In human adults mercury toxicity symptoms include:

Visual field constriction Behavioral changes, memory loss, headaches Tremor, loss of fine motor control, spasticity Hair loss

If foetuses / infants are exposed to mercury:

Mental retardation Seizures Cerebral palsy Blindness and deafness Disturbances of swallowing, sucking, and speech Hypertonic - muscle rigidity

INPUTS OF MERCURY

6000-7500 tons a year

CADMIUM (Cd)

Cadmium was used in: Electroplating, solder and as a pigment for plastics But less frequently now due to health concerns Main sources of current production: By product of zinc mining Nickel-Cadmium battery production Other sources: Burning coal (0.25-0.5 ppm) and oil (0.3ppm) Wearing down of car tyres (20-90 ppm) Corrosion of galvanised metal (impurity: 0.2% Cd) Phosphate fertilisers (phosphate rock 100 ppm Cd) Sewage sludge (30 ppm) Input of Cadmium into oceans: 8000 tons/year anthropogenic - 50%

CADMIUM (Cd) TOXIC EFFECTS High cadmium levels can lead to: depressed growth, kidney damage, cardiac enlargement, hypertension, foetal deformity, cancer In humans cadmium concentrations above 200-400 ppm in kidney tissue can lead to renal damage

Kidney dysfunction has been reported in cetaceans when liver concentrations of cadmium exceed 20 ppm wet weight.

LEAD (Pb)

Lead is used in: Battery casings, pipes, sheets etc 43 million tons produced a year 10% of lead production is for lead-based additives for gas (e.g. tetraethyl lead) High levels of lead have been found in marine life near areas of high car density - e.g. 10 ppm in fish caught 300 miles off California coast - High levels of lead in UK cetaceans were attributed to lead additives in fuel

The toxic effects of lead include:

anaemia, kidney damage, hypertension, cardiac disease, Immune system suppression (antibody inhibition) neurological damage

OTHER HEAVY METALS OF CONCERN

Aluminium Arsenic Copper chromium Iron Silver Nickel Zinc linked with decreasing health in porpoises